Vote 2010 - Cameron: Let's mend broken Britain

DAVID Cameron said today that the Conservatives were offering an "ambitious and optimistic" programme to overcome Britain's economic, social and political problems and told voters: "Together we can do anything."

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Launching his party's manifesto for the May 6 General Election, Mr Cameron made a direct bid for the support of former Labour and Liberal Democrat backers, and urged voters to choose "a new kind of politics and a new kind of country".

Joined by his Shadow Cabinet on stage at Battersea Power Station in south London, Mr Cameron said the election offered a "real choice" between a Labour Party which wants to control society and a Conservative Party which wants to hand power to individuals and communities.

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He presented the manifesto as an invitation to voters to "join the Government of Britain" by taking part in the social action needed to transform society, declaring: "We are all in this together."

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted that there was "a complete hole" in the Tory plans, which contained nothing to help the economy and would put the recovery from recession at risk.

"They are saying 'You are on your own'," Mr Brown said on a campaign visit to Derby. "They are leaving people on their own to face the recession."

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg dismissed the Tory document as a triumph of "style over substance" which promised voters "something for nothing".

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The manifesto, printed as a hardback pamphlet with the title Invitation To Join The Government Of Britain on a sober plain blue cover, was "the biggest call to arms this country has seen in a generation", said Mr Cameron.

Confirming his intention to reduce public spending by 6 billion over and above Labour plans this year to fund the scrapping of next year's National Insurance rise, Mr Cameron accepted that Tory plans would involve "cuts".

But he said voters had a choice between "a jobs tax from Labour that will kill the recovery or action from the Conservatives to boost the recovery".

Today's manifesto makes no mention of VAT, which Labour and the Liberal Democrats say will have to be raised to 20% or more to fund Conservative promises. But Mr Cameron insisted that all his plans were "properly costed and fully funded".

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"This is a manifesto for a new kind of politics and a new kind of country," said Mr Cameron.

"If you vote Conservative on May 6, you're not just voting to change the government, you're voting to change the whole system.

"People power not State power. Big Society not Big Government. We're all in this together.

"Government has an important role to play. But the people's role is even bigger.

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"Together we can get rid of our debts, get the economy moving, mend our broken society - even make politics and politicians work better. And if we can do that, we can do anything. Together, we can do anything."

Mr Cameron said the "active participation" of Britain's people would be needed to overcome the country's economic, social and political problems.

He promised to replace Labour's top-down "Big Government" approach with a "Big Society" in which ordinary people would be given the chance to exercise responsibility in taking decisions on their own lives.

In a direct address to voters, he said: "We don't just want your votes. We don't just seek your support. We seek your active participation - every day, in every way - in the running of our country.

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"Let's get together to make our country better. Let's reject the path of decline. Let's change our future, let's do it together."

Key commitments in the Conservative programme will include:

:: Enabling public sector workers to take ownership of the services they deliver through the formation of co-operatives;

:: Power for constituents to sack their MP if they are found to have committed serious wrongdoing;

:: Allowing any "good" education provider to establish a new academy school within the state system;

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:: Help for first-time home-buyers, permanently raising the stamp duty threshold to 250,000 and making it easier for social tenants to own their own homes;

:: Power for residents to veto high council tax increases and instigate referendums on any local issue if they can gain support of 5% of the population;

:: The creation of directly-elected police chiefs who will set budgets and strategy for forces;

:: A new community "right to buy" scheme enabling people to protect community services that are under threat such as post offices or pubs;

:: A rise in the inheritance tax threshold to 1 million.

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Political reforms include a 5% cut in ministers' pay and a 10% reduction in the size of the Commons, but no referendum on proportional representation or a democratic Upper House, as Labour are offering.

And the manifesto promises reform of financial regulation, a vote to repeal the hunting ban, an annual cap on non-EU immigration, a "fair fuel stabiliser" and referendums on any future proposals to transfer powers from Westminster to Brussels.

The document commits a Conservative government to eliminating "the bulk" of Britain's structural deficit over a Parliament, with a "credible plan" to be set out in an emergency Budget within 50 days of taking office.

It promises to protect spending on health and international aid, and confirms plans to freeze public sector pay for a year, cut Whitehall costs by one-third, raise the retirement age to 66 and cut tax credits and child trust funds for the better-off.

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But it sets no figure on the scale of the deficit reduction envisaged and does not match Labour's pledge not to raise income tax rates.

Mr Brown said the Tories were offering "public spending cuts, nothing for growth, jobs at risk, and a lack of fairness".

He added: "All the words, all the rhetoric, all the soft music will not disguise the fact that the Conservative Party's policies are the same as the policies that we had to get rid of in 1997."

The Prime Minister said yesterday that voters had a choice between a progressive or a Conservative future, but could not have both.

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But the Tories said today's document was "an unashamedly progressive Conservative manifesto".

And Mr Cameron made a direct appeal to supporters of the other two parties: "Labour have lost their way. The Liberals have little to say.

"So it falls to us, the modern Conservative Party, to lead the change our country needs today.

"We stand for the working people that Labour have abandoned, with their jobs tax and their waste.

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"We stand for the idealists that the Liberal Democrats will inevitably disappoint because they cannot win this race."

Conservatives have "returned to the centre ground of British politics, and that is where we will stay".